DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-0-6, 2-0-1) battled to the very end as they finished with a 1-1 draw on the road against the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (6-1-2, 1-1-1) on Thursday night.
While it was a scoreless first half, the Irish were on the board in the 49th minute to take the 1-0 lead. The Blue Devils, however, would tie it up shortly after as they found the equalizer in the 58th minute to make it 1-all. Despite persistent efforts from both teams and consistent chances for the Irish, it would result in a draw.
Junior forward Lily Joseph continues to lead the Irish in scoring this season as she scored her sixth goal of the season in the 1-1 draw.
Junior goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica, who is this week’s ACC Goalkeeper of the Week, finished the night with five saves as she leads the conference with 4.57 saves per game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish were aggressive from the start with some early looks in the first five minutes of play. Kate Kemmerley had the first opportunity for the Irish in the 4th minute as she fired it from the penalty arc, but missed just high of the crossbar. Less than a minute later, an Ellie Hodsden header off of a Notre Dame corner kick would also land just above the crossbar.
One of the best looks of the half came from Annabelle Chukwu, who had a shot inside the box in the 34th minute as she fired it past the diving Blue Devil goalkeeper. However, her shot would be saved by a Duke defender on the backside to keep it at a scoreless 0-0 with 10:30 remaining in the half.
The first half battle finished in a scoreless 45 minutes of play with the Irish outshooting Duke 6-5 and Duke having a 3-2 edge on corner kicks over the Irish.
Notre Dame would go on to outshoot Duke 15-7 in the second half, with several great looks from the Irish.
One of those great looks would find the back of the net as the Irish scored the first goal of the night in the 49th minute.
Joseph worked her way up the midfield on the pass from Izzy Engle, battling one-on-one until she was able to lose the Duke defender as she entered the box. As the Duke goalkeeper came off their line, Joseph’s right-footed touch to the far post would go past the keeper and into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
LILY JOSEPH HER 6TH GOAL OF THE YEAR 🤯
— Notre Dame Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) September 25, 2026
elite touch by Engle to set up the go-ahead goal by Joseph!#GoIrish☘️ | 📺 @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/AEdQMqx2Tf
The Blue Devils would level the score less than 10 minutes later as they found the equalizer in the 58th minute to make it 1-all.
Notre Dame had a string of opportunities to regain the lead, but the first chance came in the 60th minute as DeMartino sent it into the box and connected on the Engle header. The shot, however, would hit the post and keep it at an even 1-1.
The Irish remained aggressive as Kersh fired it from inside the box shortly after in the 62nd minute for another shot on goal, but resulted in a Blue Devil save.
In the 66th minute, a running Chukwu header would deflect off the crossbar for another close chance for the Irish. Soon after on a free kick in the 66th minute, Canada fired the shot from roughly 30 yards out, but would bounce straight off the crossbar.
In the 82nd minute, Chukwu would find the back of the net off the Notre Dame cornerkick, but it resulted in a no goal as a Notre Dame foul was called.
Despite several chances from both teams in the final minutes, the top-15 matchup would result in a 1-1 draw in Durham.
UP NEXT
The Irish are on the road for their next match at No. 1 North Carolina on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6:00 p.m.